Bird or
by puppy love inc
Summary: Spoilers to end of manga! Rin gets the day off from working in the village, and gets a bit lost in the forest. What happens when her kimono attracts an unexpected guest?


* * *

Bird or Bitch?

_Disclaimer: We do not own InuYasha, all rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi. _

_An: We're back again! XD This was our other work that we doodled out when we finaly got the time to work together again. Puppy Love, alive at last. Yes, the real title is Bird or Bitch, but obviously we'd get in a bit of trouble if we labled it that, so we took the safe root and left it blank after or. Enjoy!_

* * *

Rin sighed in delight as she moved deeper into the forest in the early morning. The day was more beautiful than it had been in months; rain had been drenching everything, but now flowers and trees were radiant in their colors and blooms. Fresh air swept through the trees, and the sky couldn't have been a clearer shade of blue. If she ever came across it, she would plop down in her favorite field and just watch the occasional white fluffy cloud pass for the whole day. That was exactly her plan, anyway.

Today was the day that Kaede-san had given her off from her duties. While the tasks given her in the village could always be something of a challenge, it was different from her old life of everyday adventure, that she treasured so much. Living with Kaede-san, InuYasha-sama, and Kagome-sama in the village was very pleasant, and a life she would have wished for years ago, but now that she had had a taste of adventure living with her lord that was all she wanted. It had been years since she had lived with him, though.

In a way, Sesshomaru-sama was the reason for her day off today. He had come the day before, bearing another even more beautiful kimono, and Kaede-san had felt very bad. Rin worked hard in the village, doing tasks that the elderly miko could no longer accomplish, which meant she had to wear working clothes that wouldn't matter if they were torn or got dirty. All the kimonos Sesshomaru-sama brought were not worn very often for fear of damaging them, despite his minor protests. His words were that 'The kimonos are meant to be worn,' but Rin would have none of that, treasuring the gifts he brought her dearly. As such, Kaede decided Rin should take the day off to do as she pleased and wear the kimono without fear of it being damaged.

And a beautiful kimono it indeed was. Most of the ones he brought her were made of rich silks and bright dyes, but this one was different from all the others. Its colors were mainly dark earthy browns that brought out the color of her eyes and shade of her hair. Instead of silk, an unnamed material was used and gave the kimono a wispy look to it, fluttering lightly around her body. When touched, it was amazing how downy soft the fabric was, even with its delicate appearance. The garment was odd, but so strange that it was more beautiful than any other kimono Rin had ever seen.

Now, with her bag in tow, she ventured through the InuYasha forest, trying to find her favorite field. She walked confidently because InuYasha-sama protected the forest, so it was unlikely there were any youkai who would attack, that and she knew with her lord around so often, he would leave nothing that could possibly endanger the village as well. The only problem was her sense of direction. She would admit that ever since she was a little girl, even with the lessons from both Sesshomaru-sama AND Jaken-sama, she had never gotten the hang of navigating or remembering directions.

Placing her somewhat heavy (it did have her melon inside) sack down on the forest floor, she tried to get her bearings before continuing further. The forest was fairly large, and if she was lost at this point, there was no point in furthering herself from the village. Looking around, she was startled when she heard a rustling coming from the branches of a nearby tree.

"InuYasha-sama," she called out hesitantly. It was unlikely to be him, considering he had said he would be spending the day with his pups and Kagome, but…

The rustling continued, and some leaves fell to the ground from the tree. The whole forest was ancient, and so the trees were enormous. It took a lot of neck craning for Rin to see where the movement was coming from.

Then it happened.

_Squawk!_

Rin jumped slightly, what in the seven hells was that?

_Squawk_

She looked around, clearly disturbed. Then a red and blue feather slowly drifted to the ground. She looked up, horror clear in her eyes, as a large human-sized bird demon peered down at her.

_Squawk_

From its perch in the trees above, she could admire its beautiful multicolor plumage dancing in the morning light. It was obviously a male considering how bright it was. A long, slender, green neck held up a canary yellow head, feathers smoothed back along its skull, with a bright orange, razor sharp beak. Its body and wings were a shade of royal blue, leading back to an incredibly long tail she couldn't quite see. The long legs were a dark purplish color, leading down to razor sharp ivory colored talons.

Suddenly, the bird was on the ground before her, looking her up and down. Backing up as slowly as possible was all Rin could do at this point, considering she had no weapon with her, or any formal training in one. She watched in awe as the bird slowly shook out its feathers and beat his wings. Each feather fanned out slowly to reveal and even brighter array of colored plumage in his tail. Odd looking feathers that almost looked like antennae rose on his head as well, a deep maroon color. It was one of the most stunning things she had ever seen in her life.

Almost as if a silent beat thrummed through the air, the bird began to dance. With wings held out, he beat them back and forth, causing a small wind to pick up. His head feathers bobbed as his neck bent from side to side, sometimes dipping towards the ground before abruptly pulling back up. It would take hops to the side every so often, then shimmy its tail feathers and puff its body up a bit. She couldn't describe it as a squawk, but it made an odd, screechy, continuous song, snapping its powerful beak for emphasis as it danced.

Rin was thoroughly confused now. What was the bird doing? Sesshomaru-sama had said in the past that some demons would play with their prey before eating it, but that didn't seem what this bird was trying to do at all. Not with the way its stared at her with its deep onyx eyes continuously. It also seemed to eye her kimono a lot.

And then she realized it. The brown, almost feather like kimono was very similar to a female bird's plumage.

_It was courting her._

"Shoo!" Rin looked around frantically, "Go away!" she hissed. The bird stopped hopping momentarily and then _squawked_ gleefully. Rin slapped her forehead and groaned in exasperation.

The bird stopped and raised one large multicolored wing and pressed its head against it. Rin's eyebrow twitched. "Oh, leave you silly bird!" The bird merely kept up its unusual dance. Rin sighed and picked up her things, no longer fearful, and walked around the dancing bird.

She got maybe twenty feet before the large bird appeared once again in front of her, this time spreading its wings and dancing more enthusiastically.

"You've gone insane." Rin muttered angrily. The bird squawked again and Rin turned and began to walk away. She heard a rustle of feathers, and flapping wings. Dread settled in her stomach," Oh no." She turned and it was gone.

_SQUAWK_

Rin yelped in horror as the surprisingly light bird landed on her shoulder. "Get off of me!" She tried unsuccessfully to shimmy the bird off. She eyed the talons warily being careful as she tried to get the stupid bird off.

"You idiotic bird!" She cried exasperated. It merely stretched its long neck down to face her upside down. It stared at her through onyx eyes for a minute. Rin stared back. And so they continued staring, one ridiculously exasperated and the other stupidly determined.

_Squawk._

Rin groaned," I will lose whatever respect Inuyasha has for me if I show up back at the village with you on my shoulder."

_Squawk_

She glared at it," I really hate you." The bird looked at her for a long minute.

_Squawk_

"I knew demons could be stupid, but not that stupid." And then it squawked gleefully, returning to its song. She endured another few minutes of serenading before it was cut off in a startled shriek. Rin felt the feet gently dislodged from her shoulder, but saw the bird viciously thrown.

A large warm body pressed against her back, and she tilted her head back to see Sesshomaru's expressionless face. Amusement and slight annoyance lit his eyes, and Rin blushed.

The bird landed and turned to look at them curiously before squawking indignantly.

Rin felt and heard Sesshomaru's warning growl, she looked at the stupid bird wondering what it would do.

It gazed at them with a blank expression before it _SQUAWKED_ and huffed flapping it large colorful wings. It made its way towards Rin, intent on perching on her shoulder once more.

"Foolish bird," Sesshomaru growled.

Rin felt his powerful youki envelope her in a warm blanket. When she tilted her head up again, his eyes were glowing blood red, teeth elongated into dangerous fangs.

His purple markings elongated and became jagged, in mock transformation. He snarled at the bird quietly and in warning. The bird stopped confusion in its eyes. It squawked as if asking a question.

And to Rin's great disbelief, and great irritation spoke. "Bitch not bird?" It asked in clear Japanese.

Rin waited in anticipation for what Sesshomaru would say. And in a long sort of drawn out growl, she heard him say," Biiiiiitttttcccccccchhhhhhhh." Rin flushed, and stared in disbelief, before remembering that in Inu terms, bitch meant female dog.

Oh.

Then it finally dawned in Rin's head and she blushed again. The bird's feathers went down and it held its head down, before spreading its wings and flying away sadly.

Sesshomaru's youki gently released her and it faded back to Sesshomaru before diminishing leaving only his comforting aura. He didn't move and Rin turned to look up at him. He turned highly amused gold eyes down to her.

In a very uncharacteristic manner, Rin turned to Sesshomaru and said solemnly, "This stays between us."

He raised a slender eyebrow and she huffed. "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama."

He stepped away, and began walking into the forest, Rin following after him. A few minutes later she was in her favorite field and she squealed in delight.

Rin hummed peacefully as she ate in silence, occasionally looking at Sesshomaru. A small smile graced her lips.

_Bitch, huh?_

* * *

An2: Hope you enjoyed! Also, if you wouldn't mind, theres a particular story one of us is looking for, and we'd appreciate if someone could tell us something about it. A basic summary of the chapters, which there were two to four of, was that Sesshomaru was running out in a fierce rain storm when he smelled blood. After investigating he found an injured adult Rin. He took her to a cave, but ended up getting wet, and stripped them of both their clothes. He bandaged Rin's wounds and they were wrapped in Mokomoko-sama till their clothes dried. That's where it ended and it was incomplete. If anyone knows anything, we'd appreciate the help, considering we've looked everywhere and just can't seem to find it. It was a most excelent story! Thanks, Puppy Love Inc.


End file.
